Ping G440 K Review

The G430 Max 10K was the most stable driver Ping had built and it carried one irritation: the rear weight was fixed, because a moveable one would have pushed the head past what the rules allow. The G440 K fixes that. The back weight is 32 grams and it moves, so a single head can be set draw, neutral or fade without surrendering the stability that is the whole reason to buy it. Carbon wraps over the crown and into the sole free about 5 grams, and a longer front to back profile sits the center of gravity deeper again.

What that buys is dull in the best way. Heel strikes start close to the line they were aimed at, low face contact holds more ball speed than the previous face managed, and the gain arrives as a tighter dispersion pattern rather than a bigger carry number. A fast player who wants to move the ball both ways will find it stubborn, and the sound is the usual flat Ping crack, sharpened rather than transformed.

Price is the quiet argument for it. Six hundred and forty nine dollars is what Ping asks for the G440 Max, the LST and the SFT as well, and what Callaway asks for the Quantum Max, so the head that holds the company's stability record carries no premium over its own siblings and none over the field. The Titleist GTS drivers sit fifty dollars above it. Pre-orders opened on the thirteenth of January and the club reached shops on the twenty ninth. For a golfer who buys a driver to stop losing golf balls, there is nothing better to spend the money on this year.